Who We Are
Our Managing Directors
Richard K. Pruett
Richard K. Pruett, Esq. is a former U.S. career Foreign Service officer specializing in East Asia and the Pacific. Adept in Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, and Pilipino, Pruett served as Deputy Chief of Mission to six Pacific Island countries and last served the U.S. Department of State as Senior Advisor in the Office of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Affairs. Pruett was one of the first two U.S. diplomats permanently assigned to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and was credited with establishing Embassy Baghdad's first fully functioning administrative office, despite wounds sustained. Previously, Pruett was the Department of State's after-hour liaison to the Intelligence Community. He served as an action officer for China, Korea, and Libya in the Politico-Military Bureau's Office for Chemical, Biological, and Missile Nonproliferation, where he chaired the Missile Trade Analysis Group, the U.S. Interagency's main watchdog against missile proliferation. Pruett is a director of The Stevenson Group, a Washington DC-based consultancy specializing in international economic development and security. Pruett holds a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the U.S. Army War College, a certificate from the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, bachelor degrees in History and Political Science from California State University Hayward, and was Cornell University's first exchange scholar with the People’s Republic of China, where he was the youngest adjunct professor in the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Ron Cullifer
Ron Cullifer is a corporate bridge builder between South Korea and North America with over 25 years success. Cullifer is a strong proponent for strengthening the Korea-USA-Japanese defensive alliance. Cullifer has full spectrum analytic experience covering US-RoK defense issues and trends, giving him a global socio-economic and geo-political perspective with special focus on U.S, security interests in the Asia-Pacific region. A U.S. Army veteran with a military intelligence background, Cullifer speaks Korean (N&S), Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese. He is skilled in Northeast Asian Business, security and defense industry analysis, in-depth world arms trade analysis, foreign affairs, cross-cultural negotiation, strategic planning and execution, industrial market research, due diligence, and anti-money laundering. He was trained in Korean Pyongyang dialect at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. Cullifer has Masters degrees in Economics from the University of Missouri - Columbus and in International Management from Arizona State University's Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management.
Maynard Joseph Sweeney
LTC Joseph Sweeney, Jr. (USMC-Ret.) dedicated his 30+ year military career to enhancing U.S. national security and preserving the US-ROK and US-Japan alliances. Sweeney's professional experience in munitions, military intelligence, Special Operaions, Training and Doctrine, and foreign missions well prepares him to help guide Pacific Energetics' international and regional efforts to strengthen Western deterrence. A decorated U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer, focused on Northeast Asia, who also served four years with the U.S. Marine Corps, Sweeney retains an active top secret security clearance and enjoys excellent relations with defense contacts world-wide. A U.S. Army War College alumnus, Sweeney has a Masters in Asian Studies (University of Hawaii), fluency in Korean, and deep experience working with South Korean, Japanese, and U.S. defense establishments. These have well equipped Sweeney to thrive in all three cultures and contribute to Pacific Energetics' mission.
Syung Je Park
Syung Je Park is the long-time Chairman of the Center for New Asia Security Studies, based in Seoul, which focuses on security and defense. He is a strategic advisor with: Sayari Analytics, a Washington DC-based firm that helps regulators and investigators mitigate risk exposure and fight financial crime, Space Eyes, a Miami-based firm focused on maritime domain awareness, disaster prevention and recovery, and space domain awareness; and Hunter Partners LLC, which specializes in combining security information and event management. Park is the Director for Northeast Asia and Korea of One World for Life (USA), an international organization linking first responders worldwide, and for Mongolia and Central Asia with Global Network Inc., a Maryland-based corporation dedicated to physical and information security. Park was formerly a specialist with the United Nations Development Program on multiple field assignments in Central Asia, Russia, China, Africa and Middle East. Park was a Lieutenant in the Republic of Korea Army's Military Police. He is a long-time watcher of North Korea who has debriefed thousands of defectors. He speaks Korean, English, Japanese, Russian, and Mongolian.
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